Peerless Pirates

Guo Xingjia stood on the official road with a calm look. However, the bloodshot eyes still revealed that he had not had an easy life in the past day.

In fact, even though Qian Mancai sent the news about Jiang Kui back to Jiangning, they still argued for a long time about the etiquette to use to welcome the Shu envoys. Many people insisted on the principle of reciprocity and asked for a ceremonial doctor to be sent. Ding Daotian sent a minister there, and some people believed that Song Zheng had already been announced as the envoy of the Propaganda Commission, and the imperial army was also sent. There was no need to send anyone to greet him, and he could just let the imperial army escort him to the post house.

What's more, some people think that Shu sent Jiang Kui's head with evil intentions. For example, when Jing Ke assassinated Qin, he brought Fan Yuqi's head with him.

For such a simple matter, the court actually argued for a whole day. In the end, the little emperor got angry and said that he would personally greet Song Zheng. When Song Zheng left, it was Pang Ying who personally sent him out of Jiangning City.

As the crown prince, the little emperor will officially take charge next year. At this time, the little emperor naturally cannot take action personally. Many opponents saw that the emperor was anxious and then made concessions. Guo Xingjia, who was originally on the side of the emperor, then Able to leave the city.[

Since time was wasted on arguing, the preparations for the reception were naturally delayed. There was no need to think about things like loess paving roads and clear water splashing on the streets. There were not even many government officials summoned.

Behind Guo Xingjia, there were more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Rites and their entourage surrounding him, and then there were the common people watching the excitement. There were not many government officials to maintain order. They were in groups of twos and threes, constantly shouting at the common people to get out of the way, which seemed a bit messy.

Seeing this scene, Song Zheng's joy gradually disappeared. After thinking for a moment, Song Zheng immediately called Han Kui and whispered a few words. Soon, the two hundred people escorting the imperial army came out. , quickly moved forward, ran behind Guo Xingjia, and assisted the government officials in maintaining order.

Tang Zhengsu and Xue Qimeng were both a little short-sighted and did not see the real scene in the distance clearly. They only felt that there were a lot of people greeting them, and they were quite happy. Xue Qimeng next to them even asked in a low voice: "Xiao Lang, who is greeting us in front of us."

Song Zheng smiled without changing his face and said: "It is me, Guo Xingjia, Guo Guo, the Minister of Rites of Daqi, personally welcoming the envoy of Shu."

"It's really a shame to have Sir Guo personally welcome you." Xue Qimeng was quite happy, and Tang Zhengsu also looked happy.

Song Zheng agreed twice, but secretly sneered in his heart. Da Qi was preparing in such a hurry. I'm afraid Pang Ying was under a lot of pressure. If no one was behind this matter, Song Zheng wouldn't believe it even to death. Everyone knew that Song Zheng was a close confidant of the young emperor, and he was favored by him for a while, and Pang Ying would be on the throne next year. It was just that these people did not fawn over Song Zheng, but instead made him a stumbling block. I really don't know what they had in mind.

The Imperial Army came forward, and the road ahead was in order. After a cup of tea, the two groups met. Tang Zhengsu, Song Zheng and others dismounted early and moved forward in small steps.

"Guo Xingjia, Minister of Rites of Daqi, respectfully welcomes the envoys from Western Shu." Guo Xingjia first raised his hands and preached loudly.

"Shu envoys Tang Zhengsu and Xue Qimeng paid homage to Mr. Guo." Tang and Xue quickly took a few steps forward and saluted deeply, with a very respectful attitude.

Guo Xingjia secretly breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward to help Tang Zhengsu: "It's been a long time, my lords."

Next to him, Song Zheng bowed to Guo Xingjia, and then introduced the official positions and status of Tang and Xue. Naturally, the two sides were polite again.

Both Tang and Xue were gentle and elegant people. Guo Xingjia was also quite happy and deliberately talked for a while. Then Guo Xingjia got on the sedan chair and led the Shu envoy all the way to Jiangning.

Since it was getting late, Tang and Xue were arranged to rest in the post house first. After being sent to the post house, Guo Xingjia left first. As the Minister of Rites, he did not need to accompany them all the time.

Since he had known that the Shu envoy was coming, the post house had made some arrangements in advance. Although it was not luxurious, it was still decent, which also made Song Zheng sigh a sigh of relief.

After everything was arranged, Song Zheng left the post house, and Han Kuite sent a leader from a hundred households to escort Song Zheng.

"Young Master, Young Master." At the door of the post house, a young man in green greeted Song Zheng desperately. Song Zheng looked up and saw Qingshan, a servant of the Song Mansion, waving to him. Next to him, a man with a high nose The fair-skinned girl was looking at him with tears in her eyes, and it turned out to be Se'er.

Song Zheng was overjoyed and stepped forward: "Why are you here?"

"Can't I come?" Se'er wiped the corners of her eyes and whispered: "You are a cruel thief. You haven't heard from me for more than half a year. I'm really worried about you." [

Hearing the resentment in Se'er's words, Song Zheng also felt sad, but he quickly calmed down: "You go back first, I will go home after I enter the palace and recover."

Se'er also knew that this was not the place for narration, so she just hummed, tears welling up in her beautiful eyes. Ten months of lovesickness actually made this shrewd northern princess become sentimental.

,,,,,.

"Master Song, you are finally back." Standing at the door of Xizhai, Pang Ying was beaming with joy. Before Song Zheng could kneel down and bow, she took hold of his arm: "No courtesy, no courtesy, come in quickly."

Song Zheng was deeply moved, and after saying a few humble words, he allowed Pang Ying to drag him into the palace. When he looked up carelessly, he saw jealousy flash across Qian Mancai's eyes.

As soon as I entered the hall, a different kind of sandalwood aroma filled the air, with a hint of sweetness. When I looked up, I saw a stick of incense as thick as a chopstick burning in the corner, and the green smoke curled up, refreshing.

Song Zheng took a deep sniff, and his expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Come on, give Song Zheng a seat and some tea." Pang Ying ordered while still holding Song Zheng's arm. When she turned around and saw that Song Zheng's face was not very good, she quickly said: "What's the matter, Master Song?"

Song Zheng coughed quickly: "I may be a little tired because of my rush today."

"Oh, then sit down quickly." Pang Ying sighed: "Master Song, I have to let you go to Shu alone this time. You have been there for ten months, separated by mountains and thousands of miles away. It's really hard on you."

"It is the duty of a minister to work for the Holy Sage." Song Zheng quickly adjusted.

"It's good to come back, it's good to come back. You didn't encounter any difficulties in Shu." Pang Ying let go of Song Zheng's hand and returned to the dragon chair, but her eyes were still staring at Song Zheng.

"Although there are some twists and turns, everything is still fine."

Although Song Zheng said it easily, Pang Ying was no longer a child and could imagine the difficulties involved. When he entered Sichuan last year, Song Zheng was forcefully forced to leave. At that time, I don't know how many people didn't think highly of Song Zheng.

"When I heard that you were assassinated in Zigui, I was very worried. I asked Shui Ding to send people to Zigui, but I heard that you had already entered Shu. You didn't encounter any more assassins in Shu."

Song Zheng thought for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "I met him more than once. Once, I almost died in Qingcheng Mountain."

"Ah!" Pang Ying said in shock: "How could this happen?"

"Why, the Holy Emperor didn't get any news?" Now it was Song Zheng's turn to be surprised. He and Lang Bochuan were attacked on Qingcheng Mountain that day, which shocked the entire Shu Kingdom. Even if Qi and Shu were blocked again, the news should have spread back. .

Pang Ying shook her head: "I have heard that the prince of Shu was assassinated in Qingcheng Mountain. No one told me that you were assassinated too!"

Song Zheng thought for a moment and understood that since Chengdu was so far away from Jiangning, the news would become vague when it came back. Probably what Pang Ying heard was just the news that Lang Bochuan was in danger. The rest of the details were I don’t know.

"My journey is very long. I will tell you everything one by one when Your Majesty has time."

Pang Ying patted her head: "I forgot, Mr. Song and your family will definitely miss you after you have been away from Jiangning for ten months. Anyway, Master Song will go back immediately. It won't be too late for you and me to talk to you after tomorrow morning." [

"Then thank you, Your Majesty." Song Zheng really missed his family.

Pang Ying was about to let Song Zheng go back first, but suddenly he remembered something: "Oh, there is one thing I want to ask clearly. Did you really bring Jiang Kui's head back?"

Song Zheng nodded: "Jiang Kui's head has been treated with quicklime and is in the hands of the Shu envoy. It will be presented to the palace tomorrow."

"Then why didn't any news come out before?"

"Xiang must be that the Shu envoy has doubts about whether we, Da Qi, can be friendly with him, so he will first check our attitude. If Mr. Guo had not come out to welcome him today, I am afraid that the Shu envoy would not be willing to sacrifice his head tomorrow. After all, Jiang Kui was actually a minister of Shu. It was considered humiliating to sacrifice his head to the Holy Emperor. I didn't know about this at first. It was only because I was on good terms with two Shu envoys that one of them made a drunken statement and the news was discovered by me. "

Song Zheng did not lie. He indeed learned this news from Xue Qimeng when he was drinking with him. At that time, Tang Zhengsu happened to be unwell and left the party early. Only Xue Qimeng and Song Zheng were drinking. Even Song Zheng did not expect Lang Zhengchun and his son. There is a backup plan for this.

Pang Ying sighed: "Lang Zhengchun was very sincere when he beheaded Jiang Kui. I didn't expect them to have such courage. They were not afraid of losing their loyalty."

"There is another reason for this."

"Oh, what's the reason?" Pang Ying asked curiously.

Before Song Zheng could answer, the money cabinet next to him suddenly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Xu Shi is coming soon."

"It's about to be locked up again. Look, I almost forgot the time again while talking. It doesn't matter, Master Song, you go back first and bring the Shu envoy to court tomorrow. We will talk after the court meeting."

,,,.

It was dark at night, and the corridor from Xi Zhai to the palace gate was very quiet. On the way, Song Zheng smiled and asked: "My dear father-in-law, what did the Holy Master mean by locking? Isn't the palace door locked at the right time?" In the palace Internally, Song Zheng would not call Qian Mancai brother Qian, so as not to be accused of being friends with internal officials.

"Oh, Mr. Song doesn't know something." Qian Mancai's title was also very formal: "The Holy One works hard at night and day, and is diligent in government affairs. He always summons ministers late at night. The Queen Mother is afraid that the Holy One will be too busy, so she invites the Holy One No more memorials should be approved after Youshi. Later, the Holy Sage asked the Queen Mother to postpone the time for half an hour. At the beginning of Xushi, the palace was locked and no one was allowed to enter the palace. The Holy Sage also promised the Queen Mother not to summon ministers after Xushi. .”

Song Zheng nodded. Pang Ying was not lazy when he was the emperor. He just had to stay up all night. This was a blessing for the Qi Dynasty.

As he walked quickly to the palace gate, Song Zheng suddenly asked: "Today when I arrived at Xizhai, I smelled a scent. It smelled very good. It didn't seem to be pure sandalwood."

"Lord Song really has a good eye. This is a new product made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Sandalwood is added with precious medicinal materials. The effect is very good. Every time the Holy One smells it, he is greatly shaken. Even the slaves have benefited from the fragrance and serve the Holy One at night. , and I feel energetic."

Song Zheng took a closer look at the money cabinet and didn't see anything strange. He couldn't help but secretly thought that the money cabinet really didn't know that there was a small amount of afurong in the incense stick.